This is the second time I’ve installed one of these kits, but the last one was in 07 and the models have been updated significantly and my memory has faded more significantly. Suffice to say, if you live anywhere where the temperature drops below 40 degrees for part of the year then you’ll appreciate the easy starting, the immediate defrosting, and the cabin pre-heating that these things provide. If you routinely have snow and ice on your truck or have to do sub-zero starts, this unit starts to feel essential. I’ve found that in 45-60 minutes, the Espar will get the coolant temps up to 100 degrees or more and it seems to max out at around 120-130 or so. This is huge with diesels that don’t heat up very fast as it is, even more so when the mercury drops.
There are three big parts to the install:
1 - Running the wires
2 - Locating the heater unit
3 - Plumbing the unit for fuel, coolant, and exhaust
In both my original installation and this one, I chose to install the heater itself just forward of the heater box on the passenger side. This greatly simplifies the plumbing and I think shorter and simpler coolant runs make for more durability and serviceability.
Fuel is the first item to tackle. The heater requires a tiny line to supply its fuel and I’m certain that installing the fuel pickup is a prime reason for uninstalled Espars sitting in garages somewhere. Itcan be a huge pain depending on how you’re vehicle is configured. Worst case, you’re dropping the tank and drilling a hole in it to install the pickup pipe supplied with the kit. On this truck, a metal-tank 110, I bought a later-model sending unit that had a fuel pickup tube integrated into it (part number). This allowed me to use the adapter nipple that came with the kit to install the little fuel line into the 8mm hose barb on the sender. Another consideration is that the heater‘s fuel pump can only have 6 feet of line on the suction (low pressure) side, which meant I had to run the line (shielded with old washer fluid hose) across to the passenger side and install the pump in the rear wheel well. I placed this back by the filler hose so that I can later shield it with a splash panel from Glyn Lewis 4x4. You can have up to 12 feet of line on the pressure-side after the pump so that leaves me plenty of distance to reach the unit in the engine bay. This was all possible because this model has an external pump. My original one had an integral pump and therefore had to have a fuel source within 6 feet - this wasn’t a problem since that 90 has an auxiliary side tank, but it’s easy to see how it could be a hard constraint for someone.
Fortunately the kit comes with exceptionally long wiring leads. This was key since I needed to run the fuel pump wires up through the rear body, along the roof rail, down the A-pillar, and through the big grommet to the engine bay. The alternative was to run the wires along the chassis rail with the main fuel lines but I preferred the idea of the protected interior run. Even if I had this kit before I pulled the chassis harness it would have made that task more difficult by adding a few wires to the bundle, so I’m not sure I would have taken that approach even if I had thought of it at the right time.
More to follow as I work through it. I’ll be skipping around on the order of work described above and I will have to come back and add more pictures to show certain parts better.
There are three big parts to the install:
1 - Running the wires
2 - Locating the heater unit
3 - Plumbing the unit for fuel, coolant, and exhaust
In both my original installation and this one, I chose to install the heater itself just forward of the heater box on the passenger side. This greatly simplifies the plumbing and I think shorter and simpler coolant runs make for more durability and serviceability.
Fuel is the first item to tackle. The heater requires a tiny line to supply its fuel and I’m certain that installing the fuel pickup is a prime reason for uninstalled Espars sitting in garages somewhere. Itcan be a huge pain depending on how you’re vehicle is configured. Worst case, you’re dropping the tank and drilling a hole in it to install the pickup pipe supplied with the kit. On this truck, a metal-tank 110, I bought a later-model sending unit that had a fuel pickup tube integrated into it (part number). This allowed me to use the adapter nipple that came with the kit to install the little fuel line into the 8mm hose barb on the sender. Another consideration is that the heater‘s fuel pump can only have 6 feet of line on the suction (low pressure) side, which meant I had to run the line (shielded with old washer fluid hose) across to the passenger side and install the pump in the rear wheel well. I placed this back by the filler hose so that I can later shield it with a splash panel from Glyn Lewis 4x4. You can have up to 12 feet of line on the pressure-side after the pump so that leaves me plenty of distance to reach the unit in the engine bay. This was all possible because this model has an external pump. My original one had an integral pump and therefore had to have a fuel source within 6 feet - this wasn’t a problem since that 90 has an auxiliary side tank, but it’s easy to see how it could be a hard constraint for someone.
Fortunately the kit comes with exceptionally long wiring leads. This was key since I needed to run the fuel pump wires up through the rear body, along the roof rail, down the A-pillar, and through the big grommet to the engine bay. The alternative was to run the wires along the chassis rail with the main fuel lines but I preferred the idea of the protected interior run. Even if I had this kit before I pulled the chassis harness it would have made that task more difficult by adding a few wires to the bundle, so I’m not sure I would have taken that approach even if I had thought of it at the right time.
More to follow as I work through it. I’ll be skipping around on the order of work described above and I will have to come back and add more pictures to show certain parts better.
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